Champagne Facts

Champagne Ettiquette
"Encyclopédie des Vignes au plaisir", These are some common mistakes people make with champagne.

Don'ts for chilling champagne
  • Do not over chill the champagne: although it should never be warm, it worse for it to be icy or nearly -frozen.
  • Do not under fill the ice bucket: you'll wind up chilling only half the bottle; add cold water to ice cubes to make sure the bottle is well submerged; this also makes it easier to put the bottle back into the bucket.
  • Do not try to chill two bottles in a bucket; it is better to leave the second bottle in the refrigerator in an insulated container.
  • Do not chill the glasses ahead of time, either by filling them with ice cubes or crushed ice; you're not making a martini! It will have a negative effect on the release of the bubbles and the bouquet of the champagne.

Don'ts in handling the bottle
  • Don't hide the label and wrap the bottle in a towel like it's a newborn baby. This contemptible practice actually began in Parisian nightclubs as a way to conceal the label of a cheap champagne so as not to reveal to the customer that he or she was being charged for a more expensive bottle of the bubbly. But you will still want to have a napkin or towel on hand to wipe off excess water from the bottle when you remove it from the ice bucket.
  • Never return an empty champagne bottle to the ice bucket upside-down! It shows an utter lack of respect for the prestigious beverage you have just consumed, and worse yet, a tactless disregard for the companions you have just shared it with.
  • Don't swirl the champagne in the glass like a pretentious wine connoisseur! The French call this "champagne battering", because swirling the bubbly in the glass will only succeed in compromising in thirty seconds the bubbles that took at least three years to produce.
  • Don't be a "locker room" champagne batterer! When serving this elegant sparkling beverage, don't be a Super Bowl or World Series champion who shakes the bottle senselessly in order to squander its contents by spraying it on your co- champions instead of drinking it.

Traditions, Folklore & Hints

Sabering the bottle
It's a French tradition that if you have a stubborn cork, you should not give up: if you can't dislodge a recalcitrant cork from a bottle of good champagne, you can do what the "Hussards" (French mounted soldiers of the Napoleonic era) did: they used the reverse edge of their saber to break the neck of the bottle. Hence, the French expression "sabrer la bouteille"- literally "saber the bottle" came about, illustrating the French belief that it is better to destroy a bottle than to do without champagne!

Removing the wire from a cork:
According to experts, if you can remove the wire in five and a half twists, you are about to open a top quality bottle- "the real thing."

What to serve with champagne:
Champagne and sparkling wines have a great deal of versatility. They can be served throughout the day and throughout a meal as well. The driest ones are excellent with elegant appetizers such as oysters and caviar. The semi-dry sparkling wines are suitable for brunch, lunch, salads, and some dinner entrees. The sweeter sparkling wines are always recommended with desserts.

When to drink champagne:
Thanks to its association with royalty and ceremonies, champagne is the traditional wine for celebration of any kind, but especially the launching of ships hot air balloons, and the New Year. Whether you're celebrating a major event, minor event, or being alive in general- or like Napoleon, consoling yourself after a defeat- you have joined the world's bon vivants in choosing this beverage.

"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes, I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it if I am; Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty."
- Madame Bollinger, one of the "grande dames" of French champagne (1884-1977)